What does it mean to be a faithful church?

While the former pastor of Trinity UCC in Chicago, the Reverend Wright was much in the public eye and the church was characterized as something less than a good Christian church, the general public has had little information about the church itself.

In April, the Christian Century did an interview with Otis Moss III, the current pastor of Trinity UCC. As part of the interview, he was asked:

How do you define a faithful life?
It happens in several dimensions. There is the internal personal dimension: the spiritual disciplines of prayer and meditation. Then there is the critical-thinking dimension: how are you developing your mind? And indispensably, for us, there is the question of your connection to the community. If Jesus’ inaugural sermon is, “The Spirit of the Lord has come upon me to preach the good news to the poor,” then how are we doing that? Are we setting the captives free? Are we opening the eyes of the blind? We have to challenge people to make faith more than a footnote in their lives, to make it the primary chapter of their lives. This is especially difficult in the American context, where a market culture convinces people to push faith to the margins.

Sounds like a good church to me. In fact, it sounds like Trinity Church has gotten closer to taking the teaching of the New Testament seriously than many other churches I have seen.

Passover begins

Most of the religious related news in the past few days continues to focus on the Pope's visit to America and on the continuing saga of the FLDS children in Texas. Easily overlooked amidst the pomp and spectacle of the Pope and the wrenching family drama of the children is that Passover begins tonight.

Passover is an ancient festival dating back to the early days in Judaism commemorating the Exodus. According to the Hebrew scripture, the early Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and treated cruelly and oppressed. They cried out to God for relief, and God heard them and led them to freedom.

Most of us who are not Jewish are familiar with some aspects of the Festival. We are aware that special foods are prepared, that a special service known as a Seder takes place, that many families use special dishes during the season, and that observant families extensively clean their homes in order to guarantee that no leaven, in any form, is in the house.

In ancient scriptures, leaven often symbolically represented the influence of the world, which is that realm of reality in opposition to God. So, the ritual cleaning of the house is a symbolic ritual to call the faithful to cleanse their lives of anything that would enslave them and affect their relationship with God.

That would be a good thing for the Christian church to adopt, it seems to me. Most Christians I know see every day as the same as every other day - including Sunday. Our lives are so filled with the mundane sameness of life that we can find no room for the transcendent. Having a time that requires a disruption of normal routine and having our minds centered on God and God's requirements seems to be a good thing.

So, if you were to initiate a Passover in your life, celebrating the freedom that God brings, what leaven would you eliminate from your life?

Faith in 6 words ... no more, no less

Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a piece in which readers were challenged to define "FAITH" in exactly six words. The inspirations for this included Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America and a recent on-line phenomenon of describing a variety of things in 6 words. (Why 6 instead of 5 or 7? I have no clue.)

The responses to the Post's piece came both from people with religious leanings and people without any religious leanings. Some of the responses that I thought interesting were:
* Faith is trust. Everyone has it.
* Absence of logic. Clinging to fear.
* Assurance that all will be well.
* Belief in mythology as the truth.
* Not alone. God is among us.
* Something to do, not to have.

If you, interested reader, were to accept the challenge to create your own definition of faith in six words, how would you express it? Or, in an alternative challenge, what are the fewest words that you could use to provide such a definition?

Canada, too

While the storyline about the FLDS compound in Texas continues, it seems to be losing some of its steam in the US media. This was bound to happen as other headlines became more compelling and as the officials in Texas now have to deal with the outcomes of their raid, such as dealing with the multitude of children who have been taken from their parents and trying to see if there are legal charges to be pursued, instead of charging in to rescue people from the clutches of religious sect.

A news story out of Canada, though, shows that the story is more than a story in the USA. There is a portion of the FLDS group that settled in Bountiful, Canada. I seem to remember that this community is in Western Canada, but, beyond that, I am unable to give geographical help. As the rightly appointed governmental officials look at the FLDS group in their area, the conflict between religion and the law is taking place there as well.

According to the story written by Darah Hansen and Jonathan Fowlie of the Canwest News Service on April 8, 2008: "There's no point in criminally charging alleged abusers in B.C.'s polygamous community of Bountiful until the courts rule on the constitutionality of polygamy itself, a senior Vancouver lawyer has concluded." Apparently, the issue is what kinds of protection are afforded a group on the basis of its religious beliefs. To quote from the article again, "The constitutional question hinges on whether the charter offers protection to polygamists on the basis of religion and freedom of expression."

That dovetails neatly with what I have commented before on this issue - see posts from April 6 & 8. When does the legal code of a land trump the religious practices of a group of people? Or, when do the religious practices take precedent, regardless of what the law defines as legal and appropriate?

It seems that some practices would be considered abhorrent enough by the people at large that those practices would never be sanctioned by the society as a whole. But, who determines where that line is?

If you were the person in charge of making that determination, would you draw the line to favor the legal code or the religious group? Would you cast aside and prohibit the practices of a minority group in favor of the views of the majority?

As always, it is a tough call.

Point for Reflection

This week is starting out to be 'not so good.' For the second time in a month, Vicki has been diagnosed with shingles. We were so encouraged when her last bout with this disease was not too debilitating. And, now, here it is again. Not only were we surprised by this outcome, so was the doctor. This situation, obviously, is the 'not so good' part.

Needless to say that the mostly sleepless night last night and the doc appointment and the trip to get meds today have had an impact on my ability to reflect on much else. Thus, I think it is a good idea that I came across this quote on the Sojourners section on BeliefNet today. May you read it and be encouraged, as I was.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
-- Anne Frank, Only One Earth

Visits from Old Friends

We were surprised on Sunday afternoon by a phone call from an old friend, Glenn Vernon from Citronelle, Alabama. Glenn is known for calling his friends - he is much better at that than I am - especially on their birthday or anniversary.

I last saw Glenn in September when Vicki and I were in Mobile, as I led a World Religions Conference at an Episcopal Church. Rob Bearden, another old friend, co-ordinated a lunch for us at which we were able to visit with many folks we had not seen since we left Mobile and the Hillcrest Baptist Church. Before then, it had been more than 10 years since I saw him.

The call today was even more special because he was in town. Glenn has told me for months that he was going to come to North Georgia and visit, and I did not take it too seriously. I have said to lots of folks, "Someday, I will come to see you" and never did. Nor do I think they expected me to follow through on my offer. Glenn did.

Vicki and I spent a wonderful hour+ talking with Glenn and his daughter, Elizabeth. We caught up on old times. Glenn brought me a DVD of the Memorial Service for his wife, Sylvia. He told me some new stories about his years running the Citronelle Baptist Assembly - a Baptist camp - and the special weeks of camp that he initiated for special needs children.

Glenn was always out of step with the majority of folks in the South. He always took seriously those radical words of Jesus about loving people, even people that were different from you. So, he still works with Native American congregations and has helped African students get college education and provided weeks of loving care for folks with Cerebral Palsy and a host of other afflictions. Glenn did more for the Kingdom of God than most of the pastors in Mobile County ever dreamed of doing.

Would that we all would be more like Glenn.